▪ I. delve, n.
(dɛlv)
[Partly a variant of delf n. (cf. staff, stave), partly n. of action from delve v.]
1. A cavity in or under the ground; excavation, pit, den; = delf n. 1. (The pl. delves is found with either sing.)
| 1590–6 Spenser F.Q. ii. vii. Argt, Guyon findes Mammon in a delve Sunning his threasure hore. Ibid. iv. i. 20 It is a darksome delue farre vnder ground. 1729 Savage Wanderer iii. 303 The delve obscene, where no suspicion pries. 1748 Thomson Cast. Indol. ii. 682 There left thro' delves and deserts dire to yell. 1815 Moore Lalla R. iv. (1850) 226 The very tigers from their delves Look out. 1820 Shelley Hymn to Mercury xix, And fine dry logs and roots innumerous He gathered in a delve upon the ground. |
2. A hollow or depression in a surface; a wrinkle.
| 1811 in Pall Mall G. 4 Oct. 1892, 3/1 If it be the same bottle I found under his bed, there is a ‘delve’ in it into which I can put my thumb. 1869 Daily News 8 July, The pursed up mouths, the artificial lines and delves, the half-closed eyes of those [marksman] to be seen sighting, and ‘cocking’, and aiming for the Queen's to-day. |
3. An act of delving; the plunging (of a spade) into the ground.
| 1869 Daily News 1 Mar., He quickly learns that every delve of his spade in the earth means money. |
† 4. (See quot.) Obs.—0
| 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Delve, as a Delve of Coals, i.e. a certain quantity of Coals digged in the Mine or Pit. 1721 in Bailey; hence in Johnson, etc. |
▪ II. delve, v.
(dɛlv)
Forms: 1 delf-an, 2– deluen, (3 dælfen, Orm. dellfenn), 3–7 delue, 4 deluyn, 5 delvyn, 4– delve, (5–6 Sc. delf, delfe). pa. tense and pa. pple. 4– delved: earlier forms see below.
[A Common WGer. vb. originally strong: OE. delfan; dealf, dulfon; dolven; corresp. to OFris. delva, OS. (bi-)delƀan, MDu. and Du. delven, LG. dölben, OHG. (bi-)telban, MHG. telben:—OTeut. ablaut series delƀ-, dalƀ-, dulƀ-: not known in Norse, nor in Gothic; but having cognates in Slavonic. The original strong inflexions were retained more or less throughout the ME. period, though with various levellings of the singular and plural forms, dalf, dulven, in the pa. tense, and replacement of the plural form by that of the pa. pple. dolven; they are rare in the 16th c.; the weak inflexions are found already in the 14th c., and are now alone in use. The verb has itself been largely displaced by dig, but is still in common use dialectally.]
A. Forms of past tense and pa. pple.
1. pa. tense. strong. a. sing. 1 dealf, 2–5 dalf, 4–5 dalfe, dalue; 4 delf, delue; 6 (9 arch.) dolve.
| c 1000 ælfric Gen. xxi. 30 Ic dealf þisne pytt. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2718 Stille he dalf him [in] ðe sond. a 1300 Cursor M. 21530 (Cott.) Lang he delf [v. rr. delue, dalue] but noght he fand. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 48/3 He dalfe a pit behynde the cyte. 1489 ― Faytes of A. i. xvii. 50 He..dalue the erth. 1598 R. Barckley Felic. Man ii. (1603) 66 Wo worth the wight that first dolve the mould. |
b. pl. α1 dulfon; 2–3 dulfen, 3 duluen; 3–4 dolfen, 3–5 dolue(n, dolve(n.
| a 1000 Martyrol. 138 Þa dulfon hi in þære ylcan stowe. c 1205 Lay. 21998 Alfene hine dulfen [c 1275 dolue]. a 1225 Ancr. R. 292 Heo duluen mine vet. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3189 Ðor he doluen..and hauen up-broȝt ðe bones. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 427/239 Huy doluen and beoten faste. a 1400 Prymer (1891) 107 They dolfen myn handes and my feet. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 57/1 Thegypciens wente and doluen pittes for water. 1865 S. Evans Bro. Fabian 59 They dolve a grave beneath the arrow. |
(β) 4 dalfe, dalue, dalf, 5 dalff; 4 delf.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 7786 (Gött.) Þai dalf [v.r. dalue] it in a wodis side. Ibid. 21146 (Cott.) Þe cristen men þar delf [v.r. dalue, Gött. delued, Trin. buryed] him þan. 1489 Caxton Faytes of A. ii. xxxv. 153 They dalff the erthe. |
weak sing. and pl. 4–5 delued (pl. -eden), 4 -id, delfd, 5 deluyde, 4– delved.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 16877 (Cott.) Þai delued him..in a yerd be þe tun. Ibid. 18562 (Gött.) Þai him hanged..And deluid him. Ibid. 19256 (Cott.) Þai..þat right nu delfd þi ded husband. 1382 Wyclif Gen. xxi. 30, I deluyde this pit. 1388 ― Ps. lvi. 7 Thei delueden [1382 doluen] a diche bifore my face. 1605 Rowlands Hell's Broke Loose 15 For when old Adam delu'd, and Euah span, Where was my silken veluet Gentleman? |
2. pa. pple. strong. 1–4 dolfen, 2–6 doluen, 3–4 duluen, dolfe, 3–6 dolue, 4 dollin, -yn, delluin, 4–6 dolven, (-yn), dolve, (5 doluyn, -wyn); 6 delfe. weak. 6–7 delued, (6 Sc. deluet), 6– delved.
| c 1000 Ags. Ps. xciii. 12 Deop adolfen, deorc and ðystre. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1895 Starf ysaac..was doluen on ðat stede. a 1300 Cursor M. 5428 (Cott.), I be noght duluen in þis land. Ibid. 5494 (Gött.) Dede and doluie [C. duluen, F. dolue, T. doluen] þar war þai. c 1340 Ibid. 3214 (Fairf.) In ebron dalue hir sir abraham, þer formast was dollyn alde adam. c 1325 Leg. Rood (1871) 113 Quen he riȝt depe had dellui[n] sare. a 1400 Prymer (1891) 77 He hat[h] opened the lake and dolfe hym. c 1430 Lydg. Bochas iv. ii. (1554) 102 a, She was ydolue lowe. a 1450 Le Morte Arth. 3604 Dolwyn dede. 1587 Golding De Mornay xi. 159 To seeke Death where it seemeth to be doluen most deepe. ? a 1600 Merline 733 in Percy Folio I. 445 Her one sister quick was delfe. |
| 1582 [see B. 1, quot. 1398]. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. (1885) 7 In sum places of Ingland..is deluet upe na small quantitie of Leid. 1756 [see B. 7]. |
B. Signification.
1. a. trans. To dig; to turn up with the spade; esp. to dig (ground) in preparation for a crop. Now chiefly north. and Sc., where it is the regular word for ‘digging’ a garden. In Shropshire, according to Miss Jackson, to delve is spec. to dig two spades deep.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xl. §6 Swelce hwa nu delfe eorþan & finde þær ðonne goldhord. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xiv. i. (Tollem. MS.) Þe more londe is doluen [1582 delved] and erid and ouerturnid, þe virtu þat is þerin is þe more medlid with all þe parties þerof. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. ii. 74 Thi lande unclene alle doluen uppe mot be. c 1440 Hylton Scala Perf. (W. de W. 1494) i. xlii, Vntyll this grounde be well ransaken & depe doluyn. 1576 Gascoigne Steele Gl. (Arb.) 58 To delue the ground for mines of glistering gold. 1577–95 Descr. Isles Scotl. in Skene Celtic Scotl. III. App. 431 Thay use na pleuchis, but delvis thair corn land with spaiddis. a 1610 Babington Wks. (1622) 269 We ouer and ouer..plow our land, and delue our gardens. 1799 J. Robertson Agric. Perth 247 He directs the moss to be delved or dug up with spades, and the manure to be chiefly lime. 1845 R. W. Hamilton Pop. Educ. iii. (ed. 2) 37 Time was when our countrymen united every employment; they delved the soil, they wove the fleece. |
| fig. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. i. i. 28 What's his name, and Birth?.. I cannot delve him to the roote: His Father Was call'd Sicillius. |
b. transf. of burrowing animals.
| 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop ii. v, Of a hylle whiche beganne to tremble and shake by cause of the molle whiche delued hit. 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 687 Sometime he runs..where earth-delving conies keep. 1861 Lytton & Fane Tannhäuser 49 The blind mole that delves the earth. |
2. a. To make (a hole, pit, ditch, etc.) by digging; to excavate. arch.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter vii. 16 Seað ontynde & dalf. c 1000 ælfric Deut. vi. 11 Wæterpyttas þa þe ᵹe ne dulfon. c 1205 Lay. 16733 Þe king lette deluen ænne dich [c 1275 dealue one dich]. a 1300 Cursor M. 21063 (Cott.) First he did his graf to deluen. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xxii. 365 To delue and dike a deop diche. 1513 Douglas æneis xi. ix. 68 Sum..Befor the portis delvis trynschis deip. 1549–62 Sternh. & H. Ps. vii. 13 He digs a ditch and delues it deepe. 1659 D. Pell Impr. of Sea 338 Sextons to delve the graves of the greatest part of his Army. 1795 Southey Joan of Arc vii. 477 Underneath the tree..They delved the narrow house. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 65 Delving the ditch a livelihood to earn. 1872 A. Dobson Bookworm, Vignettes (1873) 209 To delve, in folios' rust and must The tomb he lived in, dry as dust. |
b. transf. and fig.
| c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. lx, Time..delues the paralels in beauties brow. 1855 Singleton Virgil I. 81 The moles have delved Their chambers. 1872 Geo. Eliot Middlem. xi. 169 Mrs. Vincy's face, in which forty-five years had delved neither angles nor parallels. |
† 3. To put or hide in the ground by digging; esp. to bury (a corpse). Obs.
| c 1200 Ormin 6484 Þatt lic þatt smeredd iss þærwiþþ Biforr þatt mann itt dellfeþþ. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 77 Ioseph dalf wiþ his fader moche tresour in þe erþe. c 1450 Mirour Saluacioun 4888 Bespitted, scourgid, and corovned, dede, dolven, and ascendid. 1481 Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 36 My fader had founden kyng ermeryks tresour doluen in a pytte. 1587 Golding De Mornay xi. 159 Consider how often men go to seeke Death where it seemeth to be doluen most deepe, and yet finde it not. |
| transf. 1735 Somerville Chase ii. 38 In the dry crumbling Bank Their Forms they delve, and cautiously avoid The dripping Covert. |
4. To obtain by digging; to dig up or out of (the ground); to exhume. arch. or dial.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. vi. 19 Þær ðeofas hit delfað & forstelaþ. c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. ii. v. 51 He þat first dalf vp þe gobets or þe weyȝtys of gold, couered vndir erþe. c 1386 ― Sqr.'s T. 630 Now can nought Canace bot herbes delve Out of the grounde. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 118 Delvyn' vp owte of the erthe, effodio. 1587 Turberv. Trag. T. (1837) 255 Do delve it up, and burne it here. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. iv. (1887) 207 Delfeing vpe his fatheris reliques. 1777 Barmby Inclos. Act 26 To cut, dig, delve, gather and carry away any turves or sods. 1866 Neale Sequences & Hymns 35 In the valleys where they delve it, how the gold is good indeed. 1870 Hawthorne Eng. Note-Bks. (1879) I. 226 Minerals, delved, doubtless, out of the hearts of the mountains. |
† 5. To pierce or penetrate as by digging. Obs.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 292 Heo duluen mine vet & mine honden. He ne seide nout þet heo þurleden mine vet & mine honden, auh duluen. Vor efter þisse lettre..þe neiles weren so dulte þet heo duluen his flesch. c 1340 Ayenb. 263 Yef þe uader of þe house wyste huyche time þe þyef were comynde, uor-zoþe he wolde waky and nolde naȝt þolye þet me dolue his hous. 1382 Wyclif Ps. xxi[i]. 17 Thei dolue [v.r. delueden] myn hondis and my feet. c 1450 Bk. Curtasye 327 in Babees Bk. 308 Ne delf thou never nose thyrle With thombe ne fyngur. |
6. To dint or indent. dial.
| 1788 W. Marshall East Yorks. Gloss., Delve, to dint or bruise, as a pewter or a tin vessel. 1876 Whitby Gloss., Delve..to indent, as by a blow upon pewter; which is then said to be delved. 1877 Holderness Gloss., Delve, to indent or bruise a table, or metal surface, by a blow. |
7. a. absol. or intr. To labour with a spade in husbandry, excavating, etc.: to dig. arch. or poet., and dial. (In most dialect glossaries from Lincolnsh. and Shropsh. northward.)
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke xvi. 3 Ne mæᵹ ic delfan, me sceamað þæt ic wædliᵹe. a 1225 Ancr. R. 384 Ȝif eax ne kurue, ne þe spade ne dulue..hwo kepte ham uorte holden? c 1340 Hampole in Relig. Pieces fr. Thornton MS. 79 When Adam dalfe and Eue spane..Whare was þan þe pride of man? c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode iii. viii. (1869) 140 Folk howweden and doluen aboute þe cherche. 1512 Act 4 Hen. VIII, c. 1 §4 To digge and to delve..for erth, stones and turfes. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. III. 41 [He] saw ane ald man..Delfand full fast with ane spaid in his hand. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. iv. 208, I will delve one yard below their mines. 1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters III. 113 Men have..delved into the bowels of the earth. 1858 Longfellow M. Standish viii, When he delved in the soil of his garden. |
b. transf. of animals.
| 1727–38 Gay Fables i. xlviii. 31 With delving snout he turns the soil. 1855 Longfellow Hiaw. xiii. 130 Crows and black-birds..jays and ravens..Delving deep with beak and talon For the body of Mondamin. |
c. to delve about: to excavate round. (With indirect passive.)
| 1515 Scot. Field 19 in Chetham Misc. (1856) II., Yt was so deepe dolven with ditches aboute. |
8. fig. To make laborious search for facts, information, etc., as one who digs deep for treasure.
| 1649 G. Daniel Trinarch., Rich. II ccxliv, Gloucester..Delves for himselfe, pretending publick right. 1650 Featley Pref. in S. Newman's Concord. 1 Why delve they continually in humane arts and secular sciences, full of dregs and drosse? 1836 O. W. Holmes Poems, Poetry iv. iv, Not in the cells where frigid learning delves In Aldine folios mouldering on their shelves. 1864 Sir F. Palgrave Norm. & Eng. III. 32 The Norman Antiquary delves for the records of his country anterior to the reign of Philip Augustus. |
9. To work hard, slave, drudge. dial. or slang.
| 1838 C. Gilman Recoll. Southern Matron xxix. 204 The poor mother..delving at her needle. 1869 L. M. Alcott Lit. Women i. ii. 171 Delve like slaves. 1876 Whitby Gloss. s.v., ‘They're delving at it’, going ahead with the work. 1879 G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk., Delve..to slave, to drudge. 1891 Farmer Slang, Delve it (tailors'), to hurry with one's work, head down and sewing fast. |
† 10. To dip with violence, plunge down into water. Obs. rare—1.
| 1697 W. Dampier Voy. I. xiii. 367 He was bound..on a Bambon..which was so near the Water, that by the Vessels motion, it frequently delved under water, and the man along with it. |
11. Of the slope of a hill, road, etc.: To make a sudden dip or deep descent.
| 1848 Lytton Arthur vi. lxxxi, The bird beckoned down a delving lane. 1855 Chamb. Jrnl. III. 329 The combs delve down precipitously. 1862 Lytton Str. Story II. 115 The path was rugged..sometimes skirting the very brink of perilous cliffs; sometimes delving down to the sea-shore. |
Hence delved ppl. a., delving vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. vi. 250 In dykynge or in deluynge. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 356 Let us..fall to delving. c 1625 Milton Death Fair Inf. v, Hid from the world in a low-delvèd tomb. a 1659 Cleveland Count. Com. Man Poems (1677) 98 One that hates the King because he is a Gentleman, transgressing the Magna Charta of Delving Adam. 1883 J. Shields in Trans. Highland Soc. Agric. Ser. iv. XV. 38 The delved and ploughed portion, about 2½ acres. 1888 Athenæum 25 Aug. 249/1 Weary delvings among a heterogeneous mass of documents. |